Newsletter for Tuesday, Dec 05 2017

Ho-ho-hydrant

The Pennsylvania House Health Committee voted last night to advance a bill that bans abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. The full House will now consider the legislation, which makes a technique called “dilation and evacuation” illegal and penalize doctors for performing it. The bill doesn't create excepts for rape, incest or fetal abnormalities. Gov. Tom Wolf says he'll veto the bill, but there's still a small chance for an override. Here's what this legislation means for the health of women in Pennsylvania.

Welcome to Philadelphia, where elected officials get investigated by the FBI about as often as someone references the "Fresh Prince" song. Next up: Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley. Better known as the judge who sent Meek Mill to prison, Brinkley has apparently been under investigation for a year for her "conduct in connection" with Mill. Get the scoop here from WHYY.

Want to watch Die Hard on the big screen with friends and popcorn this holiday season? Take the kids to meet their buds for a showing of Frozen — with a sing-a-long? South Street is the place to do it. Thanks to a collaboration between the property owner, the business district and a local playhouse, a new pop-up movie theater has opened across from the TLA. Here's more info on what to expect, and a link to the full schedule.

Featured Event

Nathaniel Popkin, Peter Woodall and Joseph E.B. Elliott recently published a tome that catalogs years of exploring this city's secrets, many of them buried in plain sight. They'll talk about the process of exploring and how they got so many gorgeous photos, and what their work means for the future of preservation in Philadelphia. (Accessibility note: The presentation is on the lower level and there is no elevator.)

Billy Penn Likes

James Parker owns a store on North Fifth Street in Olney, but find times to volunteer with the Salvation Army during the holidays. Susan Lockwood, who's now retired, has been ringing a bell next to her red kettle for almost 30 years. Dawn Acero once lived in poverty herself, and now she volunteers to help those going through what she experienced. These are just some of the people you've likely already encountered this season. Meet more of the people volunteering around the city to raise money during the holidays.

Maybe the only thing more talked about than the results of the 2016 election was the result of the results — Green Party candidate Jill Stein's Pennsylvania recount. Launched by 250 Philly residents, the effort required City Commissioners Office to recount votes in 75 of Philadelphia’s more than 1600 voting divisions, despite assurance from Commissioner Al Schmidt that hacking the machines — as Stein's camp suggested had happened on Election Day — is next to impossible. Take a trip down memory lane and check out how many additional votes for Hillary Clinton that recount yielded.